At her coronation, the female fire sage reads the newly written words. The old ones were thrown out with the old regime. Dragon Queen Azula shall build a new world. A better one.
"She is fire, she is light, she is ash, and she is embers. She is Dragon Queen Azula, and she bows for no one and nothing as she leads us into a rebirth," declares the woman.
The last part about bowing was added by Azula to allay concerns about the spirits having true control. She knows people doubt her command.
Azula doubts it herself, but she tries not to think that way.
###
Ty Lee used to love weddings. They were her favorite thing in the entire world. Her own was ecstatic and amazing and incredible, even if it was to an unexpected person. These glorious, lovely days of fire and family always made her feel vibrant and alive, but, today, outside in a humongous ceremony in a city that smells and tastes like ash, she feels dead inside. Azula is marrying Mai. Ty Lee cannot think of a worse union.
To make matters worse, she knows that her husband is watching. He managed to get himself tasked with guarding her while she stands in the corner, away from the bonfire in the center of the ceremony and the two women being bound by it. Yet, she knows she would feel no warmth even if she were not so far away.
The crowd is the largest Ty Lee has seen in a long time. Ordinarily such a gathering of humans would be too suspicious to the spirits.
Azula looks madly beautiful, which is fitting for a woman who is beautifully mad.
Ty Lee gazes at her.
Zuko notices, of course. He also notices that Mai looks dreadful. Azula seems as broken as everyone else in attendance, as wan and tired, but he thinks Mai might drop dead before she even finishes the union. Zuko briefly fantasizes about that and wants to throw himself off of the roof for it.
Then again, maybe it would be better if they all just died. If the fire grew out of control and burned even Azula to the bone. Or if an earthquake struck and the sea rose up to wash away all life left on this miserable planet of worthless, lost souls.
He sighs to himself and averts his eyes from the fire sages.
###
At the reception, Zuko watches Mai approach him. No, not him; she must be coming up to Ty Lee. He straightens his back and tries to keep his breath under control.
"If anybody comes up to you and tries to talk to you tonight or any time after the wedding while Azula can't keep jealously guarding you, I want you to keep something in mind. No one can be trusted," gravely says Mai to Ty Lee, true severity in her amber eyes instead of their usual nihilistic dullness. "No one."
At that moment, Zuko wonders if she recognizes him even through the dehumanizing uniform. She could, which terrifies the former Fire Lord to the core. He wants to believe she has not lost an ounce of herself, but Zuko never was a gambling man.
"I figured," replies Ty Lee. "I'm not really understanding why you would say that, though."
"Just listen to that and keep it in mind. You're too trusting," Mai whispers, shooting a furtive glance over her shoulder. "You always were gullible and I don't want you to stay that way."
"I promise I won't trust anyone," Ty Lee nervously agrees but Mai does not seem swayed. Zuko will admit Ty Lee did not make a very enthusiastic testimony.
"I'll see you," Mai says, turning and walking away from Ty Lee.
She pauses—looking around—then thinks better of it and keeps moving.
###
Ty Lee neglects to partake in the celebration with the other revelers. She stands with her back to Zuko and looks at the wedding she once planned for herself and Azula. Ty Lee would trade absolutely anything to be standing where Mai is right now.
How can she enjoy a party she planned for another, far more joyous occasion?
They say the food is the best part.
Ty Lee feels too heartbroken to eat.
###
That night, after the reception ends and Ty Lee's guards return her to her room, she turns to Zuko. He shuts himself inside with his wife and she tries to find words. The luxury of ignoring him has gone away now that they are alone together.
"It's good that we don't have to think about them anymore," Ty Lee halfheartedly says, chewing on her fingernails as Zuko removes his helmet and sits down on her bed. He gets a good look at her eyes for the first time and sees that they are tearstained. "We're better off for it. No more regrets: just love."
Sarcastically, Zuko replies, "Well, don't sound so happy."
"You see right through me, huh?" Ty Lee whispers, sitting down.
"You're not hiding how unhappy you are. All your life you wanted to marry Azula," Zuko says, staying surprisingly calm. "It was your dream and now you have to abandon it. All my life I wanted to marry Mai, even after I was banished and thought I'd never get the privilege. That hurts me, but I know I can't understand you since I didn't love her half as much as you love my sister."
"Zuko," Ty Lee whispers, "I think we should run away again."
"What about the mission? What about dethroning Azula and stopping the spirits?" Zuko states, his eyes lighting ablaze with passion. Ty Lee wonders where he can find it on a night like this. "We can't let a little heartbreak stop us."
"Leave that up to Aang, wherever he is. Let's run away into the forest and never look back," Ty Lee says, leaning towards him. "I love you. No, not as much as I love her but I love you and I think we should just disappear. People will let things slide tonight. It's been a big party and I think we can make it out of here in one piece."
Zuko stands up. "I'm seeing this through to the end. I'll let you out of your prison if you want and you can go, but I'm staying."
Ty Lee glares at him. He never has seen her do that before and it frightens him.
"Do you love me?" she asks hoarsely, rising to face him. "Do you love me?"
"I…" Zuko squeezes his eyes shut. "Yes. I love you a lot. I was never using you to get over someone else like you were using me. I've loved you from the beginning."
"Then run with me. The world is over and we should just accept that and try to live the rest of our days as happily as we can," Ty Lee states, grabbing his hands and stepping closer and closer. He smells the sweet perfume of her scent and knows he is losing his footing in the argument.
Zuko kisses her on the lips and she kisses him back.
They lean closer and closer. She rolls up his shirt and he pulls it over his head and she falls back onto the bed, he on top of her. He brushes his lips against her neck and she giggles from how much it tickles.
She sets her hands on his back, ready to pull him even closer, but then the door opens.
"Zuko?" asks… Mai. Mai?
"Aren't you on your wedding night?" he demands, even though he knows he should probably be coming up with an excuse or punching her in the jaw and running away. It would take her five seconds to signal the spirits or dragons or worst of all her new wife.
"It's not much of a wedding night when I am so knocked up. I came to talk to Ty Lee but I guess I was interrupting…" Mai looks at them and they both feel like a parent caught them with their hands in the cookie jar.
"Where's Azula?" Zuko asks.
"With Ryzu. She spends all of her time with him, up in that tower. I think she got used to it when you kept her locked up in one for so long," Mai says, peeking her head out into the hallway and then shutting the door behind her. Ty Lee has to admire how she can easily roll with this shock. "Zuko, why did you come here?"
"Ty Lee was taking her time and I was worried," Zuko admits. "I thought it would be easier for her to kill Azula."
Mai laughs. Zuko has heard that on very few occasions and it humiliates him. Ty Lee furrows her brow, concerned for them both.
"You did?" Mai smirks. "You're even dumber than you look. I don't think Azula is the problem. She was chosen to do the work of some really pissed off creatures that wanted her to enslave humanity. Is that the kind of thing she dreams about? Yes. Do they really need her now? No."
Zuko wipes his mouth and sits up. "Look, we need to do something."
"Why?" Mai asks, her eyes flitting up and down his form. He still looks fantastic shirtless but it does not yet make up for the hero complex. "We weren't chosen by anyone like she was, and three people can't quite win a war. Or start one, usually."
"Sozin was only one person."
Mai retorts instantly, "He had an army and a magic comet."
"Wait…" Ty Lee says slowly. "You said three people."
"I could say four. As much as I think she would enjoy feeding you to Ryzu, Azula isn't wasteful. She wants out of this situation as much as we do," says Mai. "This issue transcends personal feelings and political opinions. Do you hear the screams outside? It's easy to forget about them."
"I'm confused," Zuko says, cocking an eyebrow. "You flipped sides and I…"
"I regret it," Mai admits. "And I bet Azula regrets bringing back those dragons too. She's a mess. Even more than right after the war ended."
"Well, if you're suddenly so passionate about something, what do you propose we do?"
"Build a campfire and sing some songs." Mai rolls her eyes. "I don't know, but I think the four of us should meet up."
"I'm not getting eaten."
"You can risk getting eaten being brave and facing your sister or you can wait until someone catches you and you get eaten as a coward. Your choice."
"And that's why I married Ty Lee."
"What?"
"Nothing." Zuko clears his throat. "Fine. Why don't we head up to that tower?"
###
Azula sits, stroking Ryzu, when footsteps clamor up her stairs. She rises to knock some sense into whoever dares to bother her until she sees Mai, a masked guard, and Ty Lee not in handcuffs.
"What is it?" Azula demands.
"Will you promise you won't get mad?" asks Ty Lee.
"No," hisses Azula, glowering for good measure.
"Okay. Worth a try." Ty Lee shrugs and titters anxiously.
Mai and Ty Lee both look to the former Fire Lord. Zuko groans when he removes his helmet. He better not wind up inside of that dragon's stomach.
Ryzu begins to growl when he senses his mother's angry shock. She tries to choke out his name but feels like someone punched her in the gut and knocked the winds out of her. He cannot show up like this, back in his old palace in his conquered city.
"Please don't have me eaten by Ryzu," Zuko mutters, hating to beg but deciding his life is worth a little loss of dignity. "It wasn't my idea to reveal myself."
"No…" Azula dreamily says, looking through him instead of at him. Ryzu snaps and snarls at the man he remembers from when he was growing up. "I will hear your plea, like a reasonable Queen. Ryzu, calm down. You can chew him to bloody oblivion later… if he crosses me."
Zuko does not say another word. He will not give her the satisfaction.
"Why would you two expose him?" Azula asks, glancing at her pseudo-best friends. Her wife and her prisoner, she supposes they are now. "He is on your side."
"The four of us aren't a bad team," Zuko says.
Azula snarls through bared teeth, "I asked Mai and Ty Lee," and Ryzu growls in tandem.
Ty Lee answers. "Do you want what we want?"
"I want to be the Dragon Queen. Ruling the world is what I have always dreamed of and I will give it up for nothing. I do not care who else must suffer," Azula coldly states, walking past her son to stand across from Zuko. She has a way of dwarfing people despite her small stature.
Due to the speechlessness of everyone else, Mai steps up and flatly, coolly says, "Your power is meaningless when there is no one left to rule."
Azula averts her eyes.